The Budget Conference Committee, the joint legislative body which handles the state budget, has released its summary report which will begin to be voted on throughout the week. Highlights include:

-- Rejects governor's cuts to Cal Grants, but shifts $32 million of general fund costs to the student aid fund.

-- Accepts Cal Grant programmatic reductions, beginning in 2010-11, by freezing income eligibility for Cal Grant a recipients and reducing the maximum Cal Grant award for all private college award recipients by 5 percent.

In the campus' continuing effort to advocate for the Cal Grant program, Vice President Michael Beseda appeared on Comcast Newsmakers to discuss the Cal Grant situation and urged views to contact their legislators and the governor. This segment is scheduled to be broadcast beginning Wednesday, June 24 on CNN's Headline News network.

In an exclusive interview with this office, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, expressed her desire to save the Cal Grant program. "I will continue to fight to save Cal Grants. There is no reason to eliminate programs that provide essential services or that people depend on, and Cal Grants is one of them," Skinner said. "Cal Grants are the promise we made to our young people so that they can achieve their education dreams."